Class Note 1974
Welcome to the new Class Notes 1974. I’d like to thank Rick Sample for his many years of excellent service. Rick will be continuing on as necrologist; unfortunately reporting soon on the recent deaths of our classmates Pete Becker and John Pruitt. Please see the DAM website.
I’d like to begin my notes with a profile of our outgoing class president. Gerald Bowe and his wife, Eleanor, have led our class for the last five years with great energy and distinction. Our recent 45th reunion was a great testament to their (and Matt Putnam’s) efforts.
Jerry grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He attended Boston College High School and received a scholarship to Dartmouth, the first person in his family to attend college.
Jerry says the most momentous occurrence during his Dartmouth career was meeting his wife, Eleanor, Colby College 1975. After majoring in chemistry, Jerry moved to Tuck and got his M.B.A. They settled in Hampstead, New Hampshire, and raised daughters Gretchen and Stephanie. Both girls attended Phillips Exeter, then Amherst and Wellesley colleges, following in Eleanor’s footsteps and becoming teachers.
Jerry’s early career was consulting at Bain and Co., working with manufacturing clients. On leaving Bain Jerry worked in increasing levels of responsibility at the specialty textile company Malden Mills, maker of Polartec fleece products. From 1993 to 1998 Jerry financed and built from scratch a free-standing company in the former East German city, Goerlitz. His company manufactured Polartec for European markets, growing from zero to more than 300 employees before selling to Malden Mills. Jerry then returned to Malden Mills as chief operating officer in 1999.
During the last 16 years Jerry has been the CEO of three Berkshire Partners portfolio companies. From 2002 to 2008 Jerry and Eleanor lived in Birmingham, England, where he was with Avery Weigh-Tronix (global provider of weighing equipment). During their time in England they leveraged low-cost airfares for many inexpensive trips all over Europe.
In 2009 they moved to Oakland, California, to be near their adult daughters, and Jerry became a long-distance commuter. First, he was with Masterplan in Nashville (healthcare imaging and medical device company, 2008-11) and then Vi-Jon in St. Louis, Missouri (personal care products manufacturer and distributor, 2011-17). In each case Jerry was inserted into an underperforming portfolio company that he successfully turned around, increasing the earnings-to-sales ratio by 300 to 400 percent.
In February 2017 Jerry retired as CEO, although he remains as chairman of the board of Vi-Jon. He and Eleanor now split their time between their home on Newfound Lake, New Hampshire (which they purchased in 2003), and Oakland.
Jerry says one of the biggest lessons he has learned in his career is the importance of mentorship. A few specific men in his life had outsize influence on his education, career, and success. He encourages us all to seek such opportunities.
Currently Jerry is in training for a 350-mile charity bicycle ride, called the MS Global, in Nova Scotia, in support of families dealing with multiple sclerosis. If interested in supporting this, go to the MS Global website.
That’s it! Send me news. God bless!
—Philip Stebbins, 17 Hardy Road, Londonderry, NH 03053; p.stebs@comcast.net
